Episode Details

For World Patient Safety Day, Big Blend Radio's "Quality of Life" Show welcomes author Kenitra W. Dominguez to discuss her debut memoir, "Because I Deserve It: What Chronic Illness Taught Me About Finding My Voice in the Healthcare System" — out now.

In 2021, a routine eye exam led Kenitra to an ER visit and, the next day, a diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) — a rare, incurable neurological condition. In this conversation, she talks with host Lisa D. Smith about what that diagnosis took from her, the racial and gender bias she encountered navigating the healthcare system, and the practical tools she built along the way: how to assemble a care team, how to prepare for a doctor's visit, how to request your medical records, how to ask for workplace accommodations, and how to trust your own instincts about your body.

Kenitra W. Dominguez is the founder of Bay Equity HR, sits on the Advisory Board of the California Black Women's Health Project, and holds a master's in Work Law and Social Justice from UC Law San Francisco. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, HuffPost, and Teen Vogue.

Book (out now): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX3131XK